New Taxes to Take Effect to Fund Health Care Law

WASHINGTON — For more than a year, politicians have been fighting over whether to raise taxes on high-income people. They rarely mention that affluent Americans will soon be hit with new taxes adopted as part of the 2010 health care law.

The new levies, which take effect in January, include an increase in the payroll tax on wages and a tax on investment income, including interest, dividends and capital gains. The Obama administration proposed rules to enforce both last week.

Affluent people are much more likely than low-income people to have health insurance, and now they will, in effect, help pay for coverage for many lower-income families. Among the most affluent fifth of households, those affected will see tax increases averaging $6,000 next year, economists estimate.

To help finance Medicare, employees and employers each now pay a hospital insurance tax equal to 1.45 percent on all wages. Starting in January, the health care law will require workers to pay an additional tax equal to 0.9 percent of any wages over $200,000 for single taxpayers and $250,000 for married couples filing jointly.

The new taxes on wages and investment income are expected to raise $318 billion over 10 years, or about half of all the new revenue collected under the health care law.

Ruth M. Wimer, a tax lawyer at McDermott Will & Emery, said the taxes came with “a shockingly inequitable marriage penalty.” If a single man and a single woman each earn $200,000, she said, neither would owe any additional Medicare payroll tax. But, she said, if they are married, they would owe $1,350. The extra tax is 0.9 percent of their earnings over the $250,000 threshold.

Since the creation of Social Security in the 1930s, payroll taxes have been levied on the wages of each worker as an individual. The new Medicare payroll is different. It will be imposed on the combined earnings of a married couple.

Employers are required to withhold Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes from wages paid to employees. But employers do not necessarily know how much a worker’s spouse earns and may not withhold enough to cover a couple’s Medicare tax liability. Indeed, the new rules say employers may disregard a spouse’s earnings in calculating how much to withhold.

Workers may thus owe more than the amounts withheld by their employers and may have to make up the difference when they file tax returns in April 2014. If they expect to owe additional tax, the government says, they should make estimated tax payments, starting in April 2013, or ask their employers to increase the amount withheld from each paycheck.

In the Affordable Care Act, the new tax on investment income is called an “unearned income Medicare contribution.” However, the law does not provide for the money to be deposited in a specific trust fund. It is added to the government’s general tax revenues and can be used for education, law enforcement, farm subsidies or other purposes.

Donald B. Marron Jr., the director of the Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, said the burden of this tax would be borne by the most affluent taxpayers, with about 85 percent of the revenue coming from 1 percent of taxpayers. By contrast, the biggest potential beneficiaries of the law include people with modest incomes who will receive Medicaid coverage or federal subsidies to buy private insurance.

Wealthy people and their tax advisers are already looking for ways to minimize the impact of the investment tax — for example, by selling stocks and bonds this year to avoid the higher tax rates in 2013.

The new 3.8 percent tax applies to the net investment income of certain high-income taxpayers, those with modified adjusted gross incomes above $200,000 for single taxpayers and $250,000 for couples filing jointly.

David J. Kautter, the director of the Kogod Tax Center at American University, offered this example. In 2013, John earns $160,000, and his wife, Jane, earns $200,000. They have some investments, earn $5,000 in dividends and sell some long-held stock for a gain of $40,000, so their investment income is $45,000. They owe 3.8 percent of that amount, or $1,710, in the new investment tax. And they owe $990 in additional payroll tax.

The new tax on unearned income would come on top of other tax increases that might occur automatically next year if President Obama and Congress cannot reach an agreement in talks on the federal deficit and debt. If Congress does nothing, the tax rate on long-term capital gains, now 15 percent, will rise to 20 percent in January. Dividends will be treated as ordinary income and taxed at a maximum rate of 39.6 percent, up from the current 15 percent rate for most dividends.

Under another provision of the health care law, consumers may find it more difficult to obtain a tax break for medical expenses.

Taxpayers now can take an itemized deduction for unreimbursed medical expenses, to the extent that they exceed 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income. The health care law will increase the threshold for most taxpayers to 10 percent next year. The increase is delayed to 2017 for people 65 and older.

In addition, workers face a new $2,500 limit on the amount they can contribute to flexible spending accounts used to pay medical expenses. Such accounts can benefit workers by allowing them to pay out-of-pocket expenses with pretax money.

Taken together, this provision and the change in the medical expense deduction are expected to raise more than $40 billion of revenue over 10 years.

Read More..

Leaders and their feeders

A favorite question at entrepreneurship conferences is which world city has the entrepreneurial dynamism to become a major start-up capital on par with Silicon Valley. London, Singapore, Tel Aviv, New York and Berlin are usually cited.

Seldom, however, do you hear anyone propose Boulder, Colo.

That is, unless you are in the company of Brad Feld, an early-stage investor, technology entrepreneur and author of "Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City," published by Wiley.

Feld is a regular speaker on venture capital investing and entrepreneurship, having founded his first company in 1987. Twitter is not a perfect measure of the quality of a person's opinions, but you do not get 113,000 followers without having a degree of respect from your peer group.

He is a Texan who co-founded his first company in Boston and for 20 years has been proud to call Boulder his home.

To him, this city of just 100,000 people, nestled near Rocky Mountain National Park and a short drive from Denver, is not just the best place to live. He also sees Boulder as an excellent example for those who wish to turn their own town into a start-up community.

"Although I don't have the data to support it, Boulder may have the highest entrepreneurial density in the world," he writes.

Having said that, Feld wants to make clear that all sorts of cities across the world can become home to job-creating new businesses if only they foster the necessary culture.

He sets out a framework for a successful start-up community — that it be led by entrepreneurs with a long-term commitment to the area, that the community be inclusive of anyone who wants to participate and that there be a constant stream of activities that engage all the parties.

Feld differentiates between the entrepreneurial "leaders" of a community and the "feeders," who must support but not try to take charge.

Feeders include government agencies, lawyers, accountants, local universities and angel investors. Problems often occur and areas fail to become start-up communities, he notes, when feeders, rather than the people creating the businesses, try to control the development of an entrepreneurial ecosystem.

This should serve as a warning to Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration in New York, which is trying to nurture the city's collection of fast-growing Web businesses, nicknamed Silicon Alley.

The book is also an insight into why the U.S. is such an entrepreneurial nation. The generosity of spirit still prevalent in U.S. society shines through Feld's writing. It is a key reason why so many have felt it is where they can achieve their dreams.

"Give before you get" is a mantra repeated several times by Feld. A key message is the power of community, which relies on people committing to their neighborhood for a couple of decades at least.

He also has a short answer for the people who ask how they can create the next Silicon Valley: They can't.

"Trying to create the next Silicon Valley is a fool's errand," he writes. "If that's really your goal, save yourself a lot of heartache and simply move to Silicon Valley."

It is clear from the way he writes about Boulder that Feld has no intention of moving farther west himself any time soon. "I can't imagine a better place to live," he says.

My only criticism is that almost all of his frame of reference is the U.S. His only mention of anywhere else in the world is a brief account of a trip to see some start-ups in Iceland.

But if more people loved and contributed to the places they live, as Feld and others have evidently done in Boulder, we probably would have more start-up communities around the world for him to visit.

Moules is the enterprise correspondent of the Financial Times of London, in which this review first appeared. He is also author of "The Rebel Entrepreneur," published by Kogan Page.

Read More..

Surgeon infected patients during heart procedure, Cedars-Sinai admits

A heart surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center unwittingly infected five patients during valve replacement surgeries earlier this year, causing four of the patients to need a second operation.

The infections occurred after tiny tears in the latex surgical gloves routinely worn by the doctor allowed bacteria from a skin inflammation on his hand to pass into the patients' hearts, according to the hospital. The patients survived the second operation and are still recovering, hospital officials said.

The outbreak led to investigations by the hospital and both the L.A. County and California departments of public health. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was also consulted.

Hospital officials called it a "very unusual occurrence" probably caused by an unfortunate confluence of events: the nature of the surgery, the microscopic rips in the gloves and the surgeon's skin condition. Valve replacement requires the surgeon to use thick sutures and tie more than 100 knots, which can cause extra stress on the gloves, they said.

Nevertheless, the hospital's goal is to have zero infections, said Harry Sax, vice chairman of the hospital's department of surgery. "Any hospital-acquired infection is unacceptable," he said.

The infections raise questions about what health conditions should prevent a surgeon from operating and how to get the best protection from surgical gloves. Surgeons with open sores or known infections aren't supposed to operate, but there is no national standard on what to do if they have skin inflammation, said Rekha Murthy, medical director of the hospital's epidemiology department. She added that there were also no national standards on types of gloves used, whether to wear double gloves or how many times surgeons should change those gloves during a procedure.

Healthcare-acquired infections are very common throughout the United States. Each year, infections cause 99,000 deaths in the country, including about 12,000 in California. Hospitals in the state are required to report certain infections to the California Department of Public Health. That reporting makes the public more aware of the quality of care provided at local hospitals and is an important tool for reducing infections, said Debby Rogers, deputy director of the department's Center for Health Care Quality.

Cedars-Sinai has low rates for hospital-acquired infections compared with the state and national average but has not performed as well on other surgical quality measures recently, according to the Leapfrog Group, an employer-backed nonprofit focused on healthcare quality. The organization gave the hospital a C rating last month on its national report card, down from an A in June, though it was not related to the infection outbreak.

"Clearly this hospital is making attempts to reduce infections, but they have more work to do," said Leah Binder, Leapfrog's chief executive.

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center conducts about 360 valve replacement surgeries each year and said infections occur in fewer than 1% of its cases — lower than the national average.

The hospital learned about the problem in June after three patients who had undergone valve replacement surgery showed signs of infection. Doctors diagnosed the patients with an infection called endocarditis. Concerned there might be a connection among the cases, epidemiologists analyzed the bacteria, staphylococcus epidermidis, and determined that it was an identical strain and therefore must have come from a single source. "It led to the question of gee, I wonder where it came from?" Murthy said.

Epidemiologists homed in on the surgeon with the skin inflammation. The bacteria matched, and then they made a surprising discovery: microscopic tears in the gloves typically worn by surgeons after performing valve replacement surgery. The surgeon, whose name was not released, was not allowed to operate again until he healed. He is still a member of the medical staff but no longer performs surgeries at the hospital.

The hospital soon found the same infection in two more patients. Officials also reached out to 67 patients who had heart valve replacements with the same surgeon but didn't find any other cases. One of the five infected patients was treated with antibiotics, and the other four had new valve replacement surgeries. Sax said the hospital apologized to the patients and has continued to monitor their health. The hospital has also covered the cost of their care, including follow-up treatment and all the related surgeries.

All surgeons doing valve replacements are now required to change gloves more frequently, officials said. Some surgeons are wearing double gloves during the operations, Sax said.

Following the outbreak, Cedars-Sinai did the proper follow-up to ensure the safety of their patients, said Dawn Terashita, a medical epidemiologist with L.A. County, who was notified in September. What occurred at Cedars-Sinai was an unintentional consequence of the surgery, she said.

"There is no way to keep a room entirely sterile and all the people in it sterile," she said. "You will always have risk of infection."

anna.gorman@latimes.com

Read More..

Rolling Stones hit NY for 50th anniversary gig

NEW YORK (AP) — "Time Waits for No One," the Rolling Stones sang in 1974, but lately it's seemed like that grizzled quartet does indeed have some sort of exemption from the ravages of time.

At an average age of 68-plus years, the British rockers are clearly in fighting form, sounding tight, focused and truly ready for the spotlight at a rapturously received pair of London concerts last month.

On Saturday, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts hit New York for the first of three U.S. shows on their "50 and Counting" mini-tour, marking a mind-boggling half-century since the band first began playing its unique brand of blues-tinged rock.

And the three shows — Saturday's at the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn, then two in Newark, N.J., on Dec. 13 and 15 — aren't the only big dates on the agenda. Next week the Stones join a veritable who's who of British rock royalty and U.S. superstars at the blockbuster 12-12-12 Sandy benefit concert at Madison Square Garden. Also scheduled to perform: Paul McCartney, the Who, Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Alicia Keys, Kanye West, Eddie Vedder, Billy Joel, Roger Waters and Chris Martin.

The Stones' three U.S. shows promise to have their own special guests, too. Mary J. Blige will be at the Brooklyn gig, as well as guitarist Gary Clark Jr., the band has announced. (Blige performed a searing "Gimme Shelter" with frontman Jagger in London.) Rumors are swirling of huge names at the Dec. 15 show, which also will be on pay-per-view.

In a flurry of anniversary activity, the band also released a hits compilation last month with two new songs, "Doom and Gloom" and "One More Shot," and HBO premiered a new documentary on their formative years, "Crossfire Hurricane."

The Stones formed in London in 1962 to play Chicago blues, led at the time by the late Brian Jones and pianist Ian Stewart, along with Jagger and Richards, who'd met on a train platform a year earlier. Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts were quick additions.

Wyman, who left the band in 1992, was a guest at the London shows last month, as was Mick Taylor, the celebrated former Stones guitarist who left in 1974 — to be replaced by Wood, the newest Stone and the youngster at 65.

The inevitable questions have been swirling about the next step for the Stones: another huge global tour, on the scale of their last one, "A Bigger Bang," which earned more than $550 million between 2005 and 2007? Something a bit smaller? Or is this mini-tour, in the words of their new song, really "One Last Shot"?

The Stones won't say. But in an interview last month, they made clear they felt the 50th anniversary was something to be marked.

"I thought it would be kind of churlish not to do something," Jagger told The Associated Press. "Otherwise, the BBC would have done a rather dull film about the Rolling Stones."

__

Associated Press writer David Bauder contributed to this report.

Read More..

Auto execs share insights on the industry and what's next

It's hard to get America's most senior auto executives together in the same building to address the same topics, but we managed to do it with Mark Reuss, president of General Motors Co.'s North American operations, and Mark Fields, the newly appointed chief operating officer of Ford Motor Co.

They came to town for the Los Angeles Auto Show, which ends Sunday. Even then, they weren't in the same room — so we just asked them identical questions, in separate interviews, to create this virtual debate.

Both executives address key issues facing the industry, including the future of in-dash technology, fuel economy, electric cars and the prospects for the industry at large. They don't always agree.

Do vehicle embedded features such as MyFord Touch or Cadillac Cue make sense when smartphones can do many of the same tasks with fewer glitches? Why not use architecture that allows people to use phone apps for vehicle infotainment?

Reuss: There is no way that the auto industry in the long haul should be carrying all that technology in a car. Phones will move faster in technology than anything we can put into a car. Embedding those functions in a car and then trying to guess where phones are going is not a solution. We will experiment with technology in Cadillac, but that's not where the mainline brands will be going.

Fields: It is very clear that for younger consumers, staying connected in their lives is hugely important whether they are in their bedrooms, walking outside or in their cars. That's why we started Sync and MyFord Touch.

In the future, you might end up seeing a hybrid of embedded technology and smartphone connectivity. There are certain things that we want to ensure, such as safety and integration into the rest of the vehicle. There could be some issues with just plugging in a smartphone and allowing it to do a lot of vehicle functions. We're already engaging in those discussions, thinking like a technology company.

The U.S. auto industry has been one of the better-performing segments of the U.S. economy recently but is still well below the 16 million to 17 million vehicles it once sold regularly. Can it shift to a higher gear?

Fields: We expect the market to continue to improve based on two factors. One is the age of the car park out there. [Registration data show the average age of vehicles on the road today is 10 to 11 years.] Cars are old and trucks are old. Look at that, combined with the fuel economy consumers can get from new cars right now, and there are some good reasons to buy. And then there is the gradual improvement of the economy.

This is a great business … but when you look out on the horizon in North America, do I think we will go back to the days of 18 million units anytime soon? No. But when you look at the components that set demand, I think it is very encouraging. The opportunities and growth in front of us are pretty substantial.

Reuss: It can happen based on population growth and the car-park age. But sales are throttled by the variance in consumer confidence and in jobs.

The industry is in a place it has never been in before. It has a break-even point of just 11 [million] to 12 million units. [Automakers are expected to sell about 14.5 million vehicles in the U.S. this year.] That's providing profits to invest in good cars, even if we haven't seen that quick sales growth.

That's a great place to be…. You could really be happy driving 98% of the stuff that is on display here.

What's the deal with electric vehicles? They garnered a lot of attention when automakers started selling them again two years ago, but sales are poor.

Reuss: The range has to grow and the cost of the battery and the car has to come down. The quickest way for the cost to come down is to build a platform-specific electric vehicle. Otherwise, you will always have a battery that is heavier than what you want and have less range than you want.

Our Spark EV will work, because it is already small and lightweight and close to what you want to do in a platform-specific vehicle.... We will sell a few thousand, and we are doing it in California, where there already is interest and some infrastructure for electric vehicles.

I don't think you will see bigger people-carrier EVs. It's just a harder sell. Who wants to be stranded with your family [because the battery drained down] and pay a lot of money to do it?

Fields: The simple answer is that we don't know what percentage of the marketplace battery-electric vehicles will occupy next year or even five years from now. Our strategy is to align our manufacturing so that wherever it goes, we will be able to flex.

Demand for full-electric vehicles depends on a lot of factors, including getting the cost down lower, and the price of fuel and the infrastructure to be able to support mass EVs with charging stations, etc.

It is so dynamic right now. At gas at $3.40 a gallon, will sales of EVs bump up appreciably? If gas is $5 a gallon, you would get another answer. Whatever the continuum, we will be able to meet the demand.

What single feature or attribute of a vehicle is the consumer most focused on right now?

Fields: I think fuel economy is now embedded in people's minds, no matter what the price of oil is. In the 1970s to get fuel economy you had to get really small, inconvenient vehicles, but now you don't have to compromise on size or performance.

Reuss: It is reliability and durability. You can do the styling right, the technology right and price right. But if you don't have the durability and reliability, you won't get retention. People won't buy your car again. No one wants to be accused of buying something stupid. Fuel economy would be the next reason to buy.

jerry.hirsch@latimes.com

Read More..

U.S. economy adds 146,000 jobs in November

The U.S. economy added 146,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent, the lowest since December 2008. The government said Superstorm Sandy had only a minimal effect on the figures.

The Labor Department's report on Friday offered a mixed picture for the economy.

Hiring remained steady during the storm and in the face of looming tax increases. But the government said employers added 49,000 fewer jobs in October and September than initially estimated.

And the unemployment rate fell to a four-year low in November from 7.9 percent in October mostly because more people stopped looking for work and weren't counted as unemployed.

There were signs that the storm disrupted economic activity. Construction employment dropped 20,000. And weather prevented 369,000 people from getting to work — the most in almost two years. They were still counted as employed.

Stock futures jumped after the report. Dow Jones industrial average futures were down 20 points in the minutes before the report came out at 8:30 a.m., and just after were up 70 points.

As money moved into stocks, it moved out of safer bonds. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note, which moves opposite the price, rose to 1.63 percent from 1.58 percent just before the report.

Since July, the economy has added an average of 158,000 jobs a month. That's a modest pickup from 146,000 in the first six months of the year.

The increase suggests employers are not yet delaying hiring decisions because of the “fiscal cliff.” That's the combination of sharp tax increases and spending cuts that are set to take effect next year without a budget deal.

Retailers added 53,000 positions while temporary help companies added 18,000 and education and healthcare also gained 18,000.

Auto manufacturers added nearly 10,000 jobs.

Still, overall manufacturing jobs fell 7,000. That was pushed down by a loss of 12,000 jobs in food manufacturing that likely reflects the layoff of workers at Hostess.

Sandy forced restaurants, retailers and other businesses to close in late October and early November in 24 states, particularly in the Northeast.

The U.S. grew at a solid 2.7 percent annual rate in the July-September quarter. But many economists say growth is slowing to a 1.5 percent rate in the October-December quarter, largely because of the storm and threat of the fiscal cliff. That's not enough growth to lower the unemployment rate.

The storm held back consumer spending and income, which drive economic growth. Consumer spending declined in October and work interruptions caused by Sandy reduced wages and salaries that month by about $18 billion at an annual rate, the government said.

Still, many say economic growth could accelerate next year if the fiscal cliff is avoided. The economy is also expected to get a boost from efforts to rebuild in the Northeast after the storm.

Read More..

Hospital: Nurse involved in Kate hoax call dies

LONDON (AP) — A nurse who fell victim to a prank telephone call seeking information about the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge has died, the London hospital where she worked reported Friday.

The King Edward VII hospital said nurse Jacintha Saldanha took the hoax call by two Australian radio disc jockeys who impersonated Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles early Tuesday to elicit private information on the duchess's condition. Saldanha later transferred the call to the nurse caring for the duchess, who is suffering from acute morning sickness. That second nurse spoke freely about her 30-year-old patient, one of the world's most photographed women.

Saldanha was found dead early Friday. Police say her death is unexplained.

"Our thoughts and deepest sympathies at this time are with her family and friends," said John Lofthouse, the hospital's chief executive, said in a statement. "Everyone is shocked by the loss of a much-loved and valued colleague."

St. James's Palace, which speaks for Prince William, the duchess' husband, also expressed sadness about the nurse's death, but insisted that it had not complained about the hoax.

"On the contrary, we offered our full and heartfelt support to the nurses involved and hospital staff at all times," the palace said in a statement.

The prank phone call took place early Tuesday and the two radio personalities apologized the following day.

A woman using the often-mimicked voice of Britain's monarch asked after the duchess' health. She was told by the second nurse who took the call from Saldanha that the duchess, the former Kate Middleton, "hasn't had any retching with me and she's been sleeping on and off."

The nurse went on to say the duchess had had an uneventful night, as another radio employee pretended to be a dog yapping in the background. The alleged queen and prince then talked about traveling to the London hospital to check in on the patient, who is married to the queen's grandson, Prince William.

The hospital said it supported Saldanha in the aftermath of the call and that its phone protocols were under review.

The Australian station 2DayFM placed the recording of the conversation on its website but later said it was sorry. Australian radio personalities Mel Greig and Michael Christian apologized for the hoax.

"We were very surprised that our call was put through. We thought we'd be hung up on as soon as they heard our terrible accents," they said in a joint statement with the station at the time. "We're very sorry if we've caused any issues and we're glad to hear that Kate is doing well."

However, the disc jockeys also described the call as the "easiest prank call ever made," and promoted it through the station's website and social media accounts.

The Sydney-based 2Day FM continued promote its prank call on air early Saturday morning. It described the hoax as "the prank call the world is talking about" before playing clips of news programs reporting on the original call.

Christian's Twitter account has since been taken down.

Officials from St. James's Palace have said the duchess is not yet 12 weeks pregnant. The child would be the first for her and Prince William and become third in line to the British throne, after Charles and William.

___

Associated Press Writers Paisley Dodds and Cassandra Vinograd contributed to this story.

Read More..

Consumer confidence falls sharply amid 'fiscal cliff' worries

WASHINGTON -- After displaying resilient confidence over the last few months, consumers are finally starting to show the pangs of the looming "fiscal cliff."

A leading measure of consumer confidence fell sharply to a four-month low this month, suggesting that worries about future tax hikes and government spending cuts are taking a toll on sentiment.

The drop reported Friday in the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's consumer mood index -- to 74.5% from 82.7% last month -- tempered the better-than-expected report Friday from the Labor Department. The moderate pace of job gains held up in November despite Hurricane Sandy, and the jobless rate dipped to 7.7% last month from 7.9% in October.

Consumer confidence surveys are more forward-looking. And the latest report showed measures of both current conditions and future expectations falling. Retailers added a big batch of jobs in October and November, and they're banking on solid, though not spectacular, holiday sales. But with the economy driven largely by personal spending, job growth could be hurt if anxious consumers pull back.

"As the deadline to resolve the fiscal cliff draws closer with no resolution in sight as of yet, households are concerned about a potentially sharp drop in their after-tax incomes," said Capital Economics in a note after the release of the consumer confidence survey. 

The December reading of consumer confidence brings the index back down to where it was during the summer, and puts it more in line with business sentiments, which have deteriorated noticeably.

"Fortunately, consumer fundamentals are holding up relatively well: Job growth is steady, gas prices are falling, the housing market is finally turning the corner, and equity prices have rebounded," said Timothy Daigle, an analyst at Moody's Analytics, in a note to clients Friday. "If policymakers are able to come to an agreement in a reasonable amount of time, as we expect, confidence should bounce back quickly as the recovery accelerates in six months' time."

Read More..

One toke over the line in Washington state, where pot is now legal

SEATTLE -- More than 100 hard-core tokers gathered under the Space Needle at the stroke of midnight Wednesday night to light one up in celebration of Washington state’s new marijuana law, which makes it legal for those 21 and older to possess an ounce or less of pot.

Voters in Washington and Colorado approved the nation’s first recreational marijuana laws in November, and though Colorado’s doesn’t take effect until January, the Washington initiative allows pot possession as of Thursday — though it’s still illegal for the moment to buy, sell or grow marijuana.

And smoking publicly remains against the law. That didn't stop the bandanna-clad crew puffing on pipes and joints under a chilly night sky early Thursday, and it appeared  the Seattle Police Department was not in the mood to arrest anyone on a night most seemed to take as celebratory.

"The Dude abides, and says, 'Take it inside!' " the SPD posted on its police blotter, under a photo of Jeff Bridges as "The Big Lebowski."

The department issued a bulletin to officers directing them "until further notice" to take no enforcement action, other than a verbal warning, against those violating the new law, known as Initiative 502.

"We had a city ordinance prior to this that said marijuana enforcement was our lowest enforcement priority," police department spokesman Jeff Kappel told the Los Angeles Times.

The state’s Liquor Control Board, tasked with setting up regulations to carry out the law, will over the next year draft a framework for licensing growers, handlers and retailers that initiative supporters hope will put black market drug dealers out of business.

The state's existing medical marijuana law remains unchanged.

"I think we have some ability to use our experience in regulating liquor, which is to me a similar public safety kind of product," the control board’s administrative director, Pat Kohler, said in an interview. "You want to ensure it doesn’t get in the hands of minors, and you want to make sure it doesn’t get in the wrong hands, where it can be used improperly."

State officials believe the hefty taxation on state-produced marijuana called for under the law could bring in $2 billion over the next five years.

Still unclear is what move may be next from the federal government, which still considers marijuana possession a felony.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Seattle issued a warning from the U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday that said it was taking its enforcement responsibility seriously.

"The department’s responsibility to enforce the Controlled Substances Act remains unchanged," the statement said. "Regardless of any changes in state law, including the change that will go into effect on Dec. 6 in Washington state, growing, selling or possessing any amount of marijuana remains illegal under federal law."

Likewise, it said, bringing pot onto any federal property, including national parks and forests, military installations and courthouses, would continue to be a poor idea.

ALSO:

Outrage over N.Y. Post cover of man in train's path

Man in wheelchair charged in killing at Georgia gas station

James Holmes case: University releases thousands of emails

Read More..

Windows 8: A ‘Christmas gift for someone you hate’

Microsoft (MSFT) is no stranger to criticism these days, and the company’s new Windows 8 platform is once again the target of a scathing review from a high-profile user. Well-known Internet entrepreneur and MIT professor Philip Greenspun handed Windows 8 one of its most damning reviews yet earlier this week, calling the new operating system a “Christmas gift for someone you hate.” Greenspun panned almost every aspect of Microsoft’s new software, noting that Microsoft had four years to study Android and more than five to examine iOS, but still couldn’t build a usable tablet experience.

“The only device that I can remember being as confused by is the BlackBerry PlayBook,” Greenspun wrote on his blog after using Windows 8 on a Dell (DELL) XPS One All-in-One desktop PC. The acclaimed computer scientist noted that Microsoft omitted all of the best features from the most popular touch-focused platforms and instead created a user interface he describes as a “dog’s breakfast.”

“Suppose that you are an expert user of Windows NT/XP/Vista/7, an expert user of an iPad, and an expert user of an Android phone… you will have no idea how to use Windows 8,” Greenspun wrote.

He continued, “Some functions, such as ‘start an application’ or ‘restart the computer’ are available only from the tablet interface. Conversely, when one is comfortably ensconced in a touch/tablet application, an additional click will fire up a Web browser, thereby causing the tablet to disappear in favor of the desktop. Many of the ‘apps’ that show up on the ‘all apps’ menu at the bottom of the screen (accessible only if you swipe down from the top of the screen) dump you right into the desktop on the first click.”

The only praise Greenspun offered was that “some of the supplied apps are wonderful,” pointing to Microsoft’s Bing Finance application as an example.

Get more from BGR.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook

Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..